With hurricane season fast approaching, we decided that we needed to be a little more prepared. Lakewood Yacht Club was having a preparedness seminar this morning, so we decided to go. Back before we had puppies to consider, hurricane season wasn't that big of a deal. If we had to evacuate, which we had already done during Hurricane Ike, we just packed some things in a car and left. We didn't have to worry about where we were going and whether or not the destination would allow dogs. Now that we have animals, an evacuation would be a more complicated process. The problem with a hurricane is that you don't have any idea how long you are going to be away. If the hurricane just goes by, you may be able to return home in a day or two. If the hurricane hits your area, it could be weeks before you are even allowed back into the area. After Hurricane Ike, we couldn't even get back in to check on things for almost three weeks. Cats would be okay in your house with plenty of food and water for a day or two, but three weeks? No way! The puppies couldn't even make it comfortably for a day. So, this hurricane season, we need to be a little more prepared. We need to have a plan.

Hurricane preparedness seminar

We had a lot of fun. Mom has enjoyed hurricane season since she was a kid. Her aunt, who lived a few blocks from the beach in Galveston, had a magnetic hurricane tracking chart, and it was the coolest thing ever. So, when Mom moved to Galveston to go to college, she searched high and low until she found a cool magnetic hurricane tracking chart too. So, in our house, we have the most eclectic dining room ever. We have a wall of weapons- Dad's martial arts weapons- on one side, and a hurricane tracking chart and a barometer on the other side- Mom's.When we got home from the hurricane preparedness seminar, we took the puppies outside and tried to tell them about bad weather and hurricanes. Miss M just laughed.

The puppies didn't really understand what a hurricane was. We tried to tell them it was like a really big storm. With all of our recent rain storms, they have a little bit of an idea of what rain is. We pointed out the storm clouds that were starting to roll in again.

We went back inside to continue our hurricane discussion. The sky kept getting darker and darker until all of a sudden, the lights went out. A few minutes after that, the rains and lightening started. We had to postpone our hurricane discussion until we could see again. The lights stayed off for almost two hours- just long enough for the house to start getting a little warm inside.

The clouds behind the houses across the street from us a little while before the lights went out

Finally, the power came back on and we were able to teach the puppies about tracking hurricanes.

Miss M wanted to know what all the writing said at the bottom of the chart. They haven't learned to read yet in puppy school, although I'm pretty sure they know what o-u-t and b-a-t-h spell.

Mr. M pointed out that hurricane categories no longer include specific storm surge along with wind speeds. He also wanted to know why the pesky laser pointer wouldn't leave the tracking chart alone.

Overall, I think it was a good lesson on hurricanes. Miss B agreed that she should think about which toys she would want to take in an evacuation. Miss S was concerned that we not leave the dog food behind. On a different note, this is why our tomatoes are struggling. Notice how the tomato cage isn't straight anymore. It doesn't help that the puppies have discovered that they like tomatoes.

This is a photo of Miss M basking in the sun in our backyard with a mosquito on her face. This picture was not taken this week...

I think I would pretty much need waterproof camera to take pictures of the puppies in our backyard this week. Our weather has been crazy. Crazy as in wild, wooley, cray-cray, break out the scuba gear crazy. Monday was Memorial Day. Normally, Memorial Day is supposed to be hot, sunny, perfect beach weather. On Monday, we took the puppies out just around dawn for their morning potty break. I have never seen a sky so red. The puppies were a little freaked out. They kept looking around the yard, checking out every little noise and movement in the yard. All I could think about was, "Red at night, sailors delight; red in the morning, sailors take warning." The sky was very, very red. A little while after we took them back inside, we had a thunderstorm roll through. It was a decent little squall, but nothing to write home about. I was starting to think the old adage was quite a bit of a let down- especially since the sky had been so extremely red.The day was warm and muggy. We didn't have any more rain all afternoon. I was convinced that we were done with all of the bad weather and that the insignificant little storm we had in the morning was all we were going to get. The weatherman warned us that there was a line of storms approaching from the west, but I was skeptical. At some point in the evening, the news people started breaking into the regularly scheduled program to bring weather updates about what was happening out to the west, and our weather radio started going off with various watches and warnings. We pulled up the radar and noticed that the line of storms had grown and was coming our way. They were predicting that the storms would reach our area sometime around 10. We decided to take the puppies out around 9 or 9:30, hoping that they could then hold it until after midnight, which is when they were predicting the storms to end. Once the storms started, they started with a vengeance. The lightening was so close that the ensuing thunder shook the windows. The rain was torrential, and the wind was trying hard to not be outdone by the rain and the thunder. The storms didn't stop until the next morning sometime around 4 or 5. Our area ended up with around 8 inches of rain. This entire week has been a blur of mosquitoes and steamy weather with storms off and on in between. The puppies haven't been able to play much in the yard for obvious reasons. We have been playing with them in the house quite a bit and have been playing fetch in the hallway with each one so that they at least get some exercise. The roadways have been a mess, and the weather has been too unstable to take them anywhere fun like the beach. We can't wait for puppy school so that we can take them on an outing.

This Saturday was for the birds. Literally. Every year, night herons try to nest in the big oak tree in our front yard. I wouldn't really mind because they are kind of cool, but their poop... For the past three years or so we haven't had any nests in our tree, which was a good thing because I got really tired of coming out to my car in the morning only to find bits and pieces of frogs, crabs, snakes, cockroaches, etc, in the driveway and on the car. This year, we ended up with a nest, but it is over the neighbor's yard instead of being over a driveway. So...this morning, we took the puppies out for a potty break and Dad said that one of the big birds was in the yard and that the puppies were interested in it. About that time, I looked out to see Miss B running toward the back fence, where there was a baby bird standing there looking back at her. All of the puppies went running toward the invader to see what it was doing. The bird took off through the garden box. The puppies did not appreciate this at all. If they aren't allowed in the garden box, then there is no way they could allow this bird to run around in the garden. They ended up in the back corner, with the bird near the fence and all of the puppies barking and growling at it. From a healthy distance of course. Even little Miss M had her hackles up and was barking at it. This thing had to be dangerous. It was squawking and flapping its big wings. I mean seriously. How could it not be dangerous? Just look at the wild hair and eyes.

I think they were all secretly relieved when Mom picked up Mr. M and told everyone to go inside. This thing was scary. And it was big. These are not small birds. The baby in our yard was 14 to 16 inches tall.After we got the puppies inside, we got the camera and took some pictures of it. We are pretty sure it either fell out of the nest or failed miserably at flying lessons. We are not actually even sure how it got into the back yard. The nest is in the front yard. When we went outside a little later, it tried to climb the chain length fence in the back and got its head stuck in one of the openings. It was flailing around and we were afraid it would hang itself, so we used some grilling gloves (they were the thickest gloves we had) and gently lifted it up so that it could get its head unstuck. We put it on the top of the fence, hoping it would fly off.A few hours later when we took the dogs out again, the bird was still there. Then it started pouring rain. We thought for sure that the bird would have gone back home, but when we went back out to check, it was still there.With it on the fence, the puppies didn't pay much attention to it. They knew it was there and would go to where it was sitting and stand up on their hind legs to try to smell it, then they would get bored with it and go play. We tried calling the wildlife rescue center, but they were already closed. When the evening came and we saw the bird was still there, we decided to put it at the base of the tree under the nest in hopes that the parents would feed it. We aren't really even sure if it came from that nest, but it definitely wouldn't last long just sitting on the fence. We think that it was just scared and didn't know where to go. If it's still there tomorrow, we will call the wildlife people.

We decided to take the time to put out a valuable public service announcement (PSA) discussing a little known condition called Restless Pit Bull Syndrome or RPBS. Anyone with a television has likely heard of RLS (restless leg syndrome). RPBS has some symptoms in common with RLS, but the causes are quite different.If you have pit bulls and are experiencing some of the following, you might be at risk for RPBS:1.) Loss of feeling in the legs, feet or arms while reclining in bed. This is one of the key symptoms used in the diagnosis of RPBS. This is caused by large puppies resting their heads on your ankles, or laying across you, most likely while fast asleep and completely unaware of your plight. Depending on the size of said puppies, you may not be able to re-position yourself easily.2.) Acute pain in your chest. This is normally caused by sharp little puppy elbows being pushed into your sternum when they sit up to check out noises. Don't worry. It is not a heart attack. It is simply another symptom of RPBS.3.) Inability to breath. This can be cause by two things. The first cause may be that a large puppy has decided to go to sleep right on top of you. The second cause may stem from excessive licking in the face. This usually occurs in the middle of the night if your puppy wants to go out, or first thing in the morning when the puppy is ready to get up and play.4.) Temporary loss of hearing in one ear. This is usually a result of a puppy licking your ear, during which time, you will not be able to hear anything but the puppy. Depending on how diligent the puppy is in his or her ear cleaning efforts, this may also be accompanied by popping of the ear being cleaned. This symptom is temporary.

There is no known feasible cure for RPBS. The only permanent solution is to have puppies sleep in their own bed. Pit bull snuggles are highly addictive however, thus rendering this solution undesirable. You may find temporary relief by getting a bigger bed- until the puppies are ready to actually go to sleep, at which point, they will snuggle back up to you again.

Mr. M demonstrating symptom #1 by putting Dad's leg to sleep

Miss S demonstrating the cause of acute chest pain

RPBS may cause difficulty breathing

Caution: Pit bull snuggles are known to be highly addictive

"What do you mean you don't want to snuggle me any more?"

Resistance to the pit bull snuggle is futile. Even the cats can't resist a good pittie snuggle.

What is one to do on a Saturday evening when there's nothing good on TV? Go to the beach of course. Today though, the beach conditions were crummy again. The tide was in really far, making the beach just a narrow strip of sand, the surf was up, and it was windy. That of course meant that the beach would be super loud with not much sand. On top of that, the parking lot was fairly full, and there was a school bus. From the check in point, Mom could see big groups of people squished in together on the narrow strip of sand. The puppies do really well around people, but when there are tons of people and nowhere to go, it gets a little stressful for them, and they get distracted more easily. So we decided to head over to the bay instead. The puppies had never walked over by the bay, and we figured it's good for them to do new things anyway. The more they are exposed to, the more relaxed they seem to be on their walks. We were glad we did. The beach was packed, but the bay was pretty much empty. It was still breezy enough to keep the mosquitoes away but quieter because of the lack of waves. We took the puppies up to the top of an observation tower. They loved it. They wanted to stop every few feet on the ramp up and down to look out through the rails at the scenery below.

We tried taking a nice group shot at the top of the tower, but there was much too much to see. So we didn't get to many organized pictures. Plus, the puppies were anxious to get on with the walk.

There was a little trail leading off into the bush at the base of the tower. So we decided to check it out.

We followed the little path and came to a neat little foot bridge. There was a heron sitting on it when we first got there, but it flew off when it saw our pack. The puppies just watched calmly as it flew away. It was the first time they had ever walked on a bridge like that. In the beginning, Mr. M had the idea that he could just step off the side into the marshes. Mom caught him before he had more than one paw off of the bridge. We walked across the little bridge and then decided to turn around, not knowing how far the path continued and whether or not we would be able to find our way back to the car before dark. On the way back across, we stopped to watch the fish jumping in the water around us. Miss M found all of that very interesting. Mom had been taking pictures and had just put the lens cap back on, when she noticed Miss M leaning a little too far out over the edge trying to smell the water. She called to Dad to watch her, and just as she was finishing the sentence, Splash! In went Miss M. The water was deeper than she expected. Dad, who was still holding on to her leash, pulled her quickly back out of the water. The puppies didn't know what had happened, and Miss M looked like she was in shock as to how she ended up all wet. It was her first experience with deep water. On the bright side, the water cooled her off and she didn't pant at all for the rest of the walk.

Miss S watching Mom, everyone else noticing the fish jumping out of the water

Notice how Miss M (far left) has her tongue out panting in this picture. This was just before she fell in the water.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable walk. The puppies got to do something new, and we didn't have to fight the crowds on the beach side. We finished walking just as it started getting dark. Miss M of course got a bath as soon as we got home to rinse off the salt water. She then cuddled up on the bed with us to oversee the blog writing efforts. It was much better than sitting on the couch watching something lame on TV.

The puppies have a routine now that they go through when we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma puts all of their empty water bottles that need flattening in the pantry in the kitchen, where they are easily accessible. The puppies know where the water bottles are. So, any time we go there, they go get their water bottles and proceed to flatten, or at least mangle, them. Wednesday, we went to the vet to pick up their monthly heart worm prevention medicine. We still go in every month so that they can get weighed. After the vet, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a visit. Mr. M went straight to the water bottles and picked out one to chew on. He got to work right away, making sure to earn himself some treats from Grandma. This time, Grandpa had a special treat for the puppies. He had ordered something that came in a big box. As soon as he was done with his water bottle, Mr. M went to work on the box, with quite a bit of help from the other puppies. Some jobs require teamwork. Once the box was taken care of, they went right back to work on the bottles again.

Miss M sitting on pieces of the box, chewing on a water bottle

Of course, the puppies were all glad to help with the cleanup efforts.

Miss S helping by licking Aunt A's ear

We made the mistake of playing with Miss B and then with Miss M with the broom when they were small. Now, whenever they see a broom, they instantly slip into playing mode- especially when a woman has the broom since it was Mom's bright idea to play chase the broom.

Miss B stalking the broom

The boys don't chase the broom as much. Mr. C politely excused himself from helping with the cleanup efforts so that he could help Grandma in the kitchen.

Mr. M watching so see what Dad was going to do with the cardboard he had so diligently shredded

Finally, after all of the hard work, Mr. M just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. So he decided to take a nap in the middle of the floor so that he could monitor the progress of the cleanup from time to time without actually having to get up.

Our puppies have to be the fastest puppies ever. Whenever we go outside, they all do their business or find something fun like a stick and chill out. Then, out of nowhere... Zooooooom. And it's on. Once one puppy starts running, they all join in the fun. If one wants to run and nobody else is paying attention, the runner runs over and bumps into whoever is supposed to be chasing him/ her. Miss M's favorite way to start a zoomie is to pick up a stick or a rock and then go up to the other puppies and move her head away to show them that she has something and they can't have it. Then she takes off running and they follow.In this clip, Mr. C and Miss M nip Mr. M as if to say, "Tag. You're it." Then he takes off running. At some point, they all stop, so he rams Mr. C to get it going again. It's just a normal play break in the backyard.

So, one of the things we have learned about puppies, or rather re-learned, is that boxes are way cooler than regular toys. Every time we get a box, the puppies make it their personal mission to shred and flatten it. We don't mind. It gives them something fun to do and breaks the box down at the same time. Before we had puppies, we had to break our boxes down ourselves. Notice how the pieces of the box are nice and small. They weren't even done in this picture. We ended up with small pieces of box all over the dining room and living room, but all we had to do was collect them and put them in the bin- no folding and jumping on boxes or pulling them apart. The puppies take care of all of that. They are a box demolishing machine!

Of course, the cats weren't about to let the puppies have all the fun. Kitty P sat under the table grabbing the odd piece of cardboard that happened her way. Kitty S stalked the puppies from the table.

After a short puppy spring break, the puppies went back to school today. It was their first day of the intermediate classes, and they were ready. They were already excited just to go somewhere. They always love going places- Grandma and Grandpa's, the beach, the vet, puppy school, etc. As an aside here, I've never actually met any dogs who like going to the vet, but ours love the vet's office. Anyway, when we pulled into the parking lot, they already knew where they were going. We got them out of the car without any tangled leashes and took them for a potty trip before going in. They know right where to go now, and headed straight for the classroom. We saw the instructor on the way in, and they were super happy to see her. Today's class had a lot of walking and they got to meet several new people. They also got to play with an Instructor in training who is working with our class. They like her a lot too- she gives them lots of attention. Toward the end of class, we were doing a lap around the store practicing skills, and when we paused for one of the skills, Miss M just plopped right down in the middle of the aisle, on the cool tile floor to take a nap. When we got back to the classroom, all of them had a good lounge, while taking turns cuddling with the instructor and Mom who were both sitting on the floor. By the time we left, they were totally worn out. They slept pretty much all the way home and didn't even wake up at the stop lights.

This is how 5 pit bulls look after puppy school.

We also made a discovery a few weeks ago that I thought deserved mention here. Usually when we go for a walk on the beach or when we leave puppy school, the puppies are thirsty. We carry collapsible water bowls and a bottle of water with us, but sometimes, they are still thirsty when we get in the car. It would be a total mess trying to give them water in the car. Then we figured out a solution. Ice! Why didn't we think of it before? Usually we stop to get something cold to drink on the way home, so we started ordering a cup or two of ice to give to the puppies. The puppies love it. It's hydrating and cools them off at the same time! I'm so glad we discovered this before summer.

Some days, it's just too pretty to stay home. We tried talking ourselves into just playing in the yard and being lazy, but the puppies were enjoying being outside too much. The only thing keeping us from staying outside longer were the mosquitoes. The puppies took turns chasing each other around the yard, playing keep-away with a rock they found. Then they all just plopped down to bask in the sun for a while.

Finally, Miss S brought up the elephant in the room. "Can't we just go to the beach?" She had a point. Besides, who could say no to a face like this?

So after the puppies took a short nap, we all piled into the car, and off we went- except for the cats of course. I don't think the cats would really enjoy the beach that much. Plus, they don't travel well, and Mom was not in the mood to have to clean out a poopy car kennel... So, the cats stayed home.

We all had a really good time. There were plenty of people during some parts of the walk. Our puppies just kept walking, and didn't try to frantically go over and say hi. There were even other dogs, some making quite a bit of noise, but with a little bit of coaxing, they just kept on walking and didn't pay much attention to the other dogs. Their training really has made a difference. We can't wait to start the next set of classes.Seriously, though. How could you not go to the beach on a day like this?

We've been playing around with the video function on the camera. So, here is a short video of the puppies walking on the beach.